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Monday, October 20, 2014

Take Five!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was working for AT&T and was about to reach my 5th year of employment with them. 5 years with AT&T meant all kinds of things. Top pay! Fully vested! That was a great feeling. About this time was when we found out our youngest daughter needed open heart surgery to repair a hold between the two sides of her heart and also to repair her mitral valve. This news came at about the same time AT&T decided to move their customer service group back east. Luckily, she received her operation and was home from the hospital about a week before I was told I didn't have a job to go back to. That was a crazy time!

What were you doing one year ago?

October 2013: I was working as a Transfer Specialist for Advisor Services at Schwab. Same place I am at today. I was thinking about starting a blog then. And now look at me. Blog, Blog, Blog!!! And more blogging! Kevin was still recovering from the first surgery Dr. Song performed. That was tough. That was the beginning of a lot of new changes for us. Danielle still lived at home and working and going to school and maintaining her ETSY shop. Kyle was working full-time, going to school full-time, and still going to lifting 4 times a week, as well as serving as the Assistant Scout Master in our ward. He was super busy but he was having a lot of fun. AND he had a girlfriend too. She just lives on the next street over and they were together anytime the two of them were not working or going to school. I think that was about the time he decided to scale back a little bit. Curtis was still in High School and anxious about starting mission papers. We were still riding him for grades. Lexi was playing volleyball for Mesa High and gearing up for Club ball. We had to beg her to put the ball down all the time. Funny how things can change so drastically. I miss some of those things.

Five snacks you enjoy: (in no particular order, as all snacks are created equal...)

Popcorn, Cheese and Crackers, Chips and Salsa, Apples and Caramel Dip, and last but not least, A nice honey crisp apple or a nice cold piece of pineapple! YUM!!!

Five Songs, to which you KNOW all the lyrics:

1. Separate Ways by Journey

2. Pretty much ANY of the old U-2 stuff

3. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

4. Many church hymns, especially those performed by Vocal Point (I know this doesn't count)

5. Several Carly Simon Songs

6. Pretty much anything played on the Radio 96.9, 99.9, 100.7, 93.3

Five things you would do, if you were a millionaire:

1. I wouldn't want anyone to know.

2. Buy a home. Not a giant home, but a comfortable home. After all, I don't want to be cleaning all the time.

3. I would have fun helping others with some of the money. Anonymously!!! Wouldn't that be cool! Missionaries, College Funds, Families in need, children, parents, nieces and nephews.....and NEVER tell a soul!!! LOVE THAT!!!

4. I would SAVE SAVE SAVE too

5. Furnish our home the way I wanted it.

Five bad habits:

1. Pepsi Cola or Code Red

2. Don't show enough gratitude to others for the little things

3. I have terrible eating habits! I graze and/or snack on junk food instead of eating the healthy meals that I cook for the family, which makes it even worse! I'm not hungry when I sit to eat.

4. Putting off things I need to do until I absolutely have to do them. I get them done, but I work better under pressure. Why is that???

5. Obsessiveness about the house being clean and perfect.

Five things you like doing:

1. Spending time with my immediate family

2. Reading

3. Crafting

4. Decorating

5. Creating

Five things you would never wear, buy, or get new again:

1. Pretty much any book we read around the house. Why pay full price when there are places like half price books around?

2. This orange dress I have hanging in my closet! Talk about YUCK!

3. Cable TV when I can stream General Conference with our Wi-Fi, and watch pretty much anything I want to see on Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime.

4. Bathtub cleaner, when a little vinegar and dish soap do such an amazing job

5. Another Pet!!! I am so ready to be pet free. Now don't get me wrong. I love animals. I just need a little space is all.

Five favorite toys:

1. My cell phone. It keeps me busy at work during my breaks and lunches. Not to mention it keeps me up to date on what is happening around the house too.

2. My Cricket Cutter! I love that thing.

3. My laptop! I love that too.

4. My car. I just like to drive it.

5. My Mixer. It is really nice to be able to whip up a batch of bread dough and not have to kneed it as much as I use to because the bread hook does a lot of that work for me. Love that!!!

This has been one WILD weekend for our family! Lots of ups and downs. But, we will get through all of this together. The way we always do. I love that about our family. Whenever one of us are dealing with a crisis, we all are affected, and we all come running to help. Even if all we can do is support and encourage. Not to mention extended family that helps too. We are very blessed!

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention this. Kevin got in to see his pain specialist today. (Remember their office was closed because they were moving to a new location.) The doctor himself took care of getting the MRI approved and on track. So, tomorrow Kevin will be able to get that scheduled. ALSO, they changed his pain medicines. Kevin takes 4 different medicines. The doctor switched one of his Oxy's for Dilaudid and increased the strength of the other Oxy. The other two medicines he takes, did not change. Now he takes enough medicine to knock out an entire fleet of horses. Seriously, the doctor told Kevin he was going for the absolute max he could do. I am a little scared about that, but it will be nice to not see Kevin in so much pain anymore. Thank goodness Curtis and Kyle will be around to check up on their dad while he makes this transition.

The fun part was trying to find a pharmacy that stocked these two new medications. Talk about feeling like you were a criminal or something. Each time I go to get his medicines filled they take MY driver's license, and then they go through the drill of checking to see if they even carry the medicine. It's not fun! I made 3 separate trips to three different pharmacies just checking availability because they cannot tell you if they have these medicines over the phone, for their protection. Talk about frustrating! I hate it! BUT, we did find a place that could fill the prescriptions, and I was a happy camper!

My mother-in-law will be in an Extended Care Facility for a few weeks. She refuses to get out of bed, even to go to the restroom. Kevin has told her that it's going to hurt, but once she gets up and straightens out it gets a little better. He told her she has got to get up before she gets a blood clot or something. She says they found a heart murmur and she has pneumonia. Then last night she said the pain got so bad she asked the nurse to call the paramedics. The paramedics came to see her and stayed with her for about 45 minutes until they felt she didn't need to be transported to the hospital. They were concerned that her pain level was being caused by a stroke or something. Crazy! She needs visitors!